BTB #275: Copyright On the Continent

It’s a decade since the European Commission set out to create a uniform regime in Europe for intellectual property rights. For the tenth anniversary of that important effort – the 2001 InfoSoc Directive – the Commission presented in 2011 a new strategic approach, linking promotion and protection of IP rights as a way to boost creativity and innovation.

“One of the things the Commission said they would focus on was to push for a solution for multi-territorial licensing in Europe,” Victoriano Colodron of RightsDirect, CCC’s European subsidiary, explained to CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “They clearly see that there is a market gap – there is a problem. European citizens in one country cannot access efficient licensing solutions online for digital content across all member states. And the Commission is very much committed to solving that. That’s going to have huge implications in the copyright arena in Europe.”

The two spoke recently in a review of developments over the last 12 months in copyright law and legislation in France, Great Britain, and around the Continent. Colodron is the occasional host of special programs from RightsDirect within the Beyond the Book series. From 2000 to 2010, he held the post of Deputy CEO for CEDRO, the Spanish Reproduction Rights Organization.